Discovery BoxGenesis 9:1--11:32
Context9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 9:2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. 1 Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 2 9:3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. 3 As I gave you 4 the green plants, I now give 5 you everything.
9:4 But 6 you must not eat meat 7 with its life (that is, 8 its blood) in it. 9 9:5 For your lifeblood 10 I will surely exact punishment, 11 from 12 every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person 13 I will exact punishment for the life of the individual 14 since the man was his relative. 15
9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, 16
by other humans 17
must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image 18
God 19 has made humankind.”
9:7 But as for you, 20 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, 21 9:9 “Look! I now confirm 22 my covenant with you and your descendants after you 23 9:10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – every living creature of the earth. 24 9:11 I confirm 25 my covenant with you: Never again will all living things 26 be wiped out 27 by the waters of a flood; 28 never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee 29 of the covenant I am making 30 with you 31 and every living creature with you, a covenant 32 for all subsequent 33 generations: 9:13 I will place 34 my rainbow 35 in the clouds, and it will become 36 a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever 37 I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you 38 and with all living creatures of all kinds. 39 Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy 40 all living things. 41 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember 42 the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”
9:17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things 43 that are on the earth.”
9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.) 44 9:19 These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 45
9:20 Noah, a man of the soil, 46 began to plant a vineyard. 47 9:21 When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself 48 inside his tent. 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, 49 saw his father’s nakedness 50 and told his two brothers who were outside. 9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment 51 and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned 52 the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor 53 he learned 54 what his youngest son had done 55 to him. 9:25 So he said,
The lowest of slaves 58
he will be to his brothers.”
9:26 He also said,
“Worthy of praise is 59 the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 60
9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! 61
May he live 62 in the tents of Shem
and may Canaan be his slave!”
9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 9:29 The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died.
10:1 This is the account 63 of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons 64 were born 65 to them after the flood.
10:2 The sons of Japheth 66 were Gomer, 67 Magog, 68 Madai, 69 Javan, 70 Tubal, 71 Meshech, 72 and Tiras. 73 10:3 The sons of Gomer were 74 Askenaz, 75 Riphath, 76 and Togarmah. 77 10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, 78 Tarshish, 79 the Kittim, 80 and the Dodanim. 81 10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.
10:6 The sons of Ham were Cush, 82 Mizraim, 83 Put, 84 and Canaan. 85 10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, 86 Havilah, 87 Sabtah, 88 Raamah, 89 and Sabteca. 90 The sons of Raamah were Sheba 91 and Dedan. 92
10:8 Cush was the father of 93 Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 10:9 He was a mighty hunter 94 before the Lord. 95 (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10:10 The primary regions 96 of his kingdom were Babel, 97 Erech, 98 Akkad, 99 and Calneh 100 in the land of Shinar. 101 10:11 From that land he went 102 to Assyria, 103 where he built Nineveh, 104 Rehoboth-Ir, 105 Calah, 106 10:12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. 107
10:13 Mizraim 108 was the father of 109 the Ludites, 110 Anamites, 111 Lehabites, 112 Naphtuhites, 113 10:14 Pathrusites, 114 Casluhites 115 (from whom the Philistines came), 116 and Caphtorites. 117
10:15 Canaan was the father of 118 Sidon his firstborn, 119 Heth, 120 10:16 the Jebusites, 121 Amorites, 122 Girgashites, 123 10:17 Hivites, 124 Arkites, 125 Sinites, 126 10:18 Arvadites, 127 Zemarites, 128 and Hamathites. 129 Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended 130 from Sidon 131 all the way to 132 Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to 133 Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 10:20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.
10:21 And sons were also born 134 to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), 135 the father of all the sons of Eber.
10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, 136 Asshur, 137 Arphaxad, 138 Lud, 139 and Aram. 140 10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 141 10:24 Arphaxad was the father of 142 Shelah, 143 and Shelah was the father of Eber. 144 10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, 145 and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of 146 Almodad, 147 Sheleph, 148 Hazarmaveth, 149 Jerah, 150 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, 151 Diklah, 152 10:28 Obal, 153 Abimael, 154 Sheba, 155 10:29 Ophir, 156 Havilah, 157 and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 10:30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to 158 Sephar in the eastern hills. 10:31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.
10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread 159 over the earth after the flood.
11:1 The whole earth 160 had a common language and a common vocabulary. 161 11:2 When the people 162 moved eastward, 163 they found a plain in Shinar 164 and settled there. 11:3 Then they said to one another, 165 “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” 166 (They had brick instead of stone and tar 167 instead of mortar.) 168 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens 169 so that 170 we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise 171 we will be scattered 172 across the face of the entire earth.”
11:5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people 173 had started 174 building. 11:6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language 175 they have begun to do this, then 176 nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. 177 11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse 178 their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” 179
11:8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building 180 the city. 11:9 That is why its name was called 181 Babel 182 – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.
11:10 This is the account of Shem.
Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11:11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other 183 sons and daughters.
11:12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 11:13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other 184 sons and daughters. 185
11:14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 11:15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other 186 sons and daughters.
11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 11:17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 11:19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 11:21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 11:23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 11:25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
11:27 This is the account of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 11:28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, 187 while his father Terah was still alive. 188 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, 189 and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; 190 she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 11:32 The lifetime 191 of Terah was 205 years, and he 192 died in Haran.
Genesis 16:1-16
Context16:1 Now Sarai, 193 Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, 194 but she had an Egyptian servant 195 named Hagar. 196 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since 197 the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with 198 my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” 199 Abram did what 200 Sarai told him.
16:3 So after Abram had lived 201 in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, 202 to her husband to be his wife. 203 16:4 He had sexual relations with 204 Hagar, and she became pregnant. 205 Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. 206 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! 207 I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, 208 but when she realized 209 that she was pregnant, she despised me. 210 May the Lord judge between you and me!” 211
16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your 212 servant is under your authority, 213 do to her whatever you think best.” 214 Then Sarai treated Hagar 215 harshly, 216 so she ran away from Sarai. 217
16:7 The Lord’s angel 218 found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. 219 16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from 220 my mistress, Sarai.”
16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit 221 to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, 222 “so that they will be too numerous to count.” 223 16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,
“You are now 224 pregnant
and are about to give birth 225 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 226
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 227
16:12 He will be a wild donkey 228 of a man.
He will be hostile to everyone, 229
and everyone will be hostile to him. 230
He will live away from 231 his brothers.”
16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” 232 for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 233 16:14 That is why the well was called 234 Beer Lahai Roi. 235 (It is located 236 between Kadesh and Bered.)
16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 237 16:16 (Now 238 Abram was 86 years old 239 when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) 240
Genesis 21:1--22:24
Context21:1 The Lord visited 241 Sarah just as he had said he would and did 242 for Sarah what he had promised. 243 21:2 So Sarah became pregnant 244 and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. 245 21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, 246 Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. 247 21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) 248
21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. 249 Everyone who hears about this 250 will laugh 251 with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, 252 “Who would 253 have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared 254 a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 255 21:9 But Sarah noticed 256 the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. 257 21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish 258 that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. 259 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset 260 about the boy or your slave wife. Do 261 all that Sarah is telling 262 you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. 263 21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”
21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took 264 some food 265 and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, 266 and sent her away. So she went wandering 267 aimlessly through the wilderness 268 of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved 269 the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot 270 away; for she thought, 271 “I refuse to watch the child die.” 272 So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. 273
21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. 274 The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, 275 Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard 276 the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. 277 She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. 278 His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 279
21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you 280 in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name 281 that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. 282 Show me, and the land 283 where you are staying, 284 the same loyalty 285 that I have shown you.” 286
21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” 287 21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint 288 against Abimelech concerning a well 289 that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 290 21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, 291 you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”
21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. 292 21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these 293 seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof 294 that I dug this well.” 295 21:31 That is why he named that place 296 Beer Sheba, 297 because the two of them swore 298 an oath there.
21:32 So they made a treaty 299 at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned 300 to the land of the Philistines. 301 21:33 Abraham 302 planted a tamarisk tree 303 in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, 304 the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. 305
22:1 Some time after these things God tested 306 Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham 307 replied. 22:2 God 308 said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac 309 – and go to the land of Moriah! 310 Offer him up there as a burnt offering 311 on one of the mountains which I will indicate to 312 you.”
22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. 313 He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out 314 for the place God had spoken to him about.
22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of 315 the place in the distance. 22:5 So he 316 said to his servants, “You two stay 317 here with the donkey while 318 the boy and I go up there. We will worship 319 and then return to you.” 320
22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, 321 and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, 322 “My father?” “What is it, 323 my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, 324 “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide 325 for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there 326 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up 327 his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter 328 his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel 329 called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 330 the angel said. 331 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 332 that you fear 333 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
22:13 Abraham looked up 334 and saw 335 behind him 336 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 337 went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” 338 It is said to this day, 339 “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” 340
22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ 341 decrees the Lord, 342 ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, 343 and I will greatly multiply 344 your descendants 345 so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession 346 of the strongholds 347 of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, 348 all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 349 using the name of your descendants.’”
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together 350 for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. 351
22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah 352 also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 353 22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now 354 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
Genesis 11:7
Context11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse 355 their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.” 356
Genesis 42:23
Context42:23 (Now 357 they did not know that Joseph could understand them, 358 for he was speaking through an interpreter.) 359
Deuteronomy 28:49
Context28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth 360 as the eagle flies, 361 a nation whose language you will not understand,
Deuteronomy 28:2
Context28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance 362 if you obey the Lord your God:
Deuteronomy 18:1
Context18:1 The Levitical priests 363 – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. 364
Acts 2:4-11
Context2:4 All 365 of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages 366 as the Spirit enabled them. 367
2:5 Now there were devout Jews 368 from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. 369 2:6 When this sound 370 occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, 371 because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 2:7 Completely baffled, they said, 372 “Aren’t 373 all these who are speaking Galileans? 2:8 And how is it that each one of us hears them 374 in our own native language? 375 2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, 376 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, 377 and visitors from Rome, 378 2:11 both Jews and proselytes, 379 Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!” 380
Acts 10:46
Context10:46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising 381 God. Then Peter said,
Acts 19:6
Context19:6 and when Paul placed 382 his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came 383 upon them, and they began to speak 384 in tongues and to prophesy. 385
[9:2] 1 tn Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.
[9:2] 2 tn Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.
[9:3] 1 tn Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”
[9:3] 2 tn The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:3] 3 tn The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.
[9:4] 3 tn Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.
[9:4] 4 tn The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:5] 1 tn Again the text uses apposition to clarify what kind of blood is being discussed: “your blood, [that is] for your life.” See C. L. Dewar, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 4 (1953): 204-8.
[9:5] 2 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The verb דָּרָשׁ (darash) means “to require, to seek, to ask for, to exact.” Here it means that God will exact punishment for the taking of a life. See R. Mawdsley, “Capital Punishment in Gen. 9:6,” CentBib 18 (1975): 20-25.
[9:5] 3 tn Heb “from the hand of,” which means “out of the hand of” or “out of the power of” and is nearly identical in sense to the preposition מִן (min) alone.
[9:5] 4 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
[9:5] 6 tn Heb “from the hand of a man, his brother.” The point is that God will require the blood of someone who kills, since the person killed is a relative (“brother”) of the killer. The language reflects Noah’s situation (after the flood everyone would be part of Noah’s extended family), but also supports the concept of the brotherhood of humankind. According to the Genesis account the entire human race descended from Noah.
[9:6] 1 tn Heb “the blood of man.”
[9:6] 2 tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
[9:6] 3 sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.
[9:6] 4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 1 sn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + pronominal subject + verb) here indicates a strong contrast to what has preceded. Against the backdrop of the warnings about taking life, God now instructs the people to produce life, using terms reminiscent of the mandate given to Adam (Gen 1:28).
[9:8] 1 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
[9:9] 1 tn Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”
[9:9] 2 tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.
[9:10] 1 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
[9:11] 1 tn The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).
[9:11] 4 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
[9:12] 2 sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.
[9:12] 3 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
[9:12] 4 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:12] 5 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
[9:13] 1 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).
[9:13] 2 sn The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.
[9:13] 3 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
[9:14] 1 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
[9:15] 1 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
[9:16] 1 tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”
[9:18] 1 sn The concluding disjunctive clause is parenthetical. It anticipates the following story, which explains that the Canaanites, Ham’s descendants through Canaan, were cursed because they shared the same moral abandonment that their ancestor displayed. See A. van Selms, “The Canaanites in the Book of Genesis,” OTS 12 (1958): 182-213.
[9:19] 1 tn Heb “was scattered.” The verb פָּצָה (patsah, “to scatter” [Niphal, “to be scattered”]) figures prominently in story of the dispersion of humankind in chap. 11.
[9:20] 1 sn The epithet a man of the soil indicates that Noah was a farmer.
[9:20] 2 tn Or “Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard”; Heb “and Noah, a man of the ground, began and he planted a vineyard.”
[9:21] 1 tn The Hebrew verb גָּלָה (galah) in the Hitpael verbal stem (וַיִּתְגַּל, vayyitggal) means “to uncover oneself” or “to be uncovered.” Noah became overheated because of the wine and uncovered himself in the tent.
[9:22] 1 sn For the second time (see v. 18) the text informs the reader of the relationship between Ham and Canaan. Genesis 10 will explain that Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes living in the promised land.
[9:22] 2 tn Some would translate “had sexual relations with,” arguing that Ham committed a homosexual act with his drunken father for which he was cursed. However, the expression “see nakedness” usually refers to observation of another’s nakedness, not a sexual act (see Gen 42:9, 12 where “nakedness” is used metaphorically to convey the idea of “weakness” or “vulnerability”; Deut 23:14 where “nakedness” refers to excrement; Isa 47:3; Ezek 16:37; Lam 1:8). The following verse (v. 23) clearly indicates that visual observation, not a homosexual act, is in view here. In Lev 20:17 the expression “see nakedness” does appear to be a euphemism for sexual intercourse, but the context there, unlike that of Gen 9:22, clearly indicates that in that passage sexual contact is in view. The expression “see nakedness” does not in itself suggest a sexual connotation. Some relate Gen 9:22 to Lev 18:6-11, 15-19, where the expression “uncover [another’s] nakedness” (the Piel form of גָּלָה, galah) refers euphemistically to sexual intercourse. However, Gen 9:22 does not say Ham “uncovered” the nakedness of his father. According to the text, Noah uncovered himself; Ham merely saw his father naked. The point of the text is that Ham had no respect for his father. Rather than covering his father up, he told his brothers. Noah then gave an oracle that Ham’s descendants, who would be characterized by the same moral abandonment, would be cursed. Leviticus 18 describes that greater evil of the Canaanites (see vv. 24-28).
[9:23] 1 tn The word translated “garment” has the Hebrew definite article on it. The article may simply indicate that the garment is definite and vivid in the mind of the narrator, but it could refer instead to Noah’s garment. Did Ham bring it out when he told his brothers?
[9:23] 2 tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”
[9:24] 1 tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
[9:24] 3 tn The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.
[9:25] 1 sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.
[9:25] 2 sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).
[9:25] 3 tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.
[9:26] 2 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 1 tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:27] 2 tn In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).
[10:1] 1 tn The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolÿdot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1–11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.
[10:1] 2 sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.
[10:1] 3 tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bÿne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.
[10:2] 1 sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.
[10:2] 2 sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.
[10:2] 3 sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.
[10:2] 4 sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.
[10:2] 5 sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.
[10:2] 6 sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
[10:2] 7 sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
[10:2] 8 sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.
[10:3] 1 sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.
[10:3] 2 sn Askenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 63.
[10:3] 3 sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.
[10:3] 4 sn Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 26, n. 28.
[10:4] 1 sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.
[10:4] 2 sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.
[10:4] 3 sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.
[10:4] 4 tc Most of the MT
[10:6] 1 sn The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).
[10:6] 2 sn The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.
[10:6] 3 sn The descendants of Put settled in Libya.
[10:6] 4 sn The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).
[10:7] 1 sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.
[10:7] 2 sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.
[10:7] 3 sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.
[10:7] 4 sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.
[10:7] 5 sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.
[10:7] 6 sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.
[10:7] 7 sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.
[10:8] 1 tn Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.
[10:9] 1 tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).
[10:9] 2 tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the
[10:10] 1 tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.
[10:10] 3 sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.
[10:10] 4 sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.
[10:10] 5 tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).
[10:10] 6 sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.
[10:11] 1 tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.
[10:11] 3 sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.
[10:11] 4 sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.
[10:11] 5 sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.
[10:12] 1 tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”
[10:13] 1 sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).
[10:13] 3 sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.
[10:13] 4 sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.
[10:13] 5 sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.
[10:13] 6 sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).
[10:14] 1 sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.
[10:14] 2 sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.
[10:14] 3 tn Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.
[10:14] 4 sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.
[10:15] 2 sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.
[10:15] 3 tn Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. NIV), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.
[10:16] 1 sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.
[10:16] 2 sn Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.
[10:16] 3 sn The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 1:226).
[10:17] 1 sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.
[10:17] 2 sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.
[10:17] 3 sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.
[10:18] 1 sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.
[10:18] 2 sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.
[10:18] 3 sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.
[10:19] 2 map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[10:21] 1 tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”
[10:21] 2 tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.
[10:22] 1 sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.
[10:22] 2 sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.
[10:22] 3 sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.
[10:22] 4 sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.
[10:22] 5 sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.
[10:23] 1 tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”
[10:24] 2 tc The MT reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the LXX reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
[10:24] 3 sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).
[10:25] 1 tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.
[10:26] 2 sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.
[10:26] 3 sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.
[10:26] 4 sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.
[10:26] 5 sn The name Jerah means “moon.”
[10:27] 1 sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.
[10:27] 2 sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”
[10:28] 1 sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.
[10:28] 2 sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”
[10:28] 3 sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.
[10:29] 1 sn Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28, 10:11, 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18, 9:10; Job 22:24, 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).
[10:29] 2 sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.
[11:1] 1 sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9,” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.
[11:1] 2 tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.
[11:2] 1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:2] 2 tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”
[11:2] 3 tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”
[11:3] 1 tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”
[11:3] 2 tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbbÿnah lÿvenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrÿfah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 75-76).
[11:3] 3 tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).
[11:3] 4 tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
[11:4] 1 tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.
[11:4] 2 tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (vÿna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.
[11:4] 3 tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”
[11:4] 4 sn The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.
[11:5] 1 tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.
[11:5] 2 tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.
[11:6] 1 tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
[11:6] 2 tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”
[11:6] 3 tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
[11:7] 1 tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the
[11:7] 2 tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”
[11:8] 1 tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.
[11:9] 1 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.
[11:9] 2 sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
[11:11] 1 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:13] 1 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:13] 2 tc The reading of the MT is followed in vv. 11-12; the LXX reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived four hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived one hundred and thirty years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in Gen 10:24; the LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
[11:15] 1 tn Here and in vv. 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:28] 1 sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium
[11:28] 2 tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”
[11:29] 1 sn The name Sarai (a variant spelling of “Sarah”) means “princess” (or “lady”). Sharratu was the name of the wife of the moon god Sin. The original name may reflect the culture out of which the patriarch was called, for the family did worship other gods in Mesopotamia.
[11:29] 2 sn The name Milcah means “Queen.” But more to the point here is the fact that Malkatu was a title for Ishtar, the daughter of the moon god. If the women were named after such titles (and there is no evidence that this was the motivation for naming the girls “Princess” or “Queen”), that would not necessarily imply anything about the faith of the two women themselves.
[11:32] 1 tn Heb “And the days of Terah were.”
[11:32] 2 tn Heb “Terah”; the pronoun has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:1] 1 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.
[16:1] 2 sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.
[16:1] 3 tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.
[16:1] 4 sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)
[16:2] 1 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.
[16:2] 2 tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).
[16:2] 3 tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.
[16:2] 4 tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”
[16:3] 1 tn Heb “at the end of ten years, to live, Abram.” The prepositional phrase introduces the temporal clause, the infinitive construct serves as the verb, and the name “Abram” is the subject.
[16:3] 2 tn Heb “the Egyptian, her female servant.”
[16:3] 3 sn To be his wife. Hagar became a slave wife, not on equal standing with Sarai. However, if Hagar produced the heir, she would be the primary wife in the eyes of society. When this eventually happened, Hagar become insolent, prompting Sarai’s anger.
[16:4] 1 tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.
[16:4] 2 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)
[16:4] 3 tn Heb “and she saw that she was pregnant and her mistress was despised in her eyes.” The Hebrew verb קָלַל (qalal) means “to despise, to treat lightly, to treat with contempt.” In Hagar’s opinion Sarai had been demoted.
[16:5] 1 tn Heb “my wrong is because of you.”
[16:5] 2 tn Heb “I placed my female servant in your bosom.”
[16:5] 4 tn Heb “I was despised in her eyes.” The passive verb has been translated as active for stylistic reasons. Sarai was made to feel supplanted and worthless by Hagar the servant girl.
[16:6] 1 tn The clause is introduced with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), introducing a foundational clause for the coming imperative: “since…do.”
[16:6] 2 tn Heb “in your hand.”
[16:6] 3 tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”
[16:6] 4 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:6] 5 tn In the Piel stem the verb עָנָה (’anah) means “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly, to mistreat.”
[16:6] 6 tn Heb “and she fled from her presence.” The referent of “her” (Sarai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:7] 1 tn Heb “the messenger of the
[16:7] 2 tn Heb “And the angel of the
[16:8] 1 tn Heb “from the presence of.”
[16:9] 1 tn The imperative וְהִתְעַנִּי (vÿhit’anni) is the Hitpael of עָנָה (’anah, here translated “submit”), the same word used for Sarai’s harsh treatment of her. Hagar is instructed not only to submit to Sarai’s authority, but to whatever mistreatment that involves. God calls for Hagar to humble herself.
[16:10] 1 tn Heb “The
[16:10] 2 tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”
[16:11] 1 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
[16:11] 2 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
[16:11] 3 sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”
[16:11] 4 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
[16:12] 1 sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.
[16:12] 2 tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.
[16:12] 3 tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”
[16:12] 4 tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).
[16:13] 1 tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).
[16:13] 2 tn Heb “after one who sees me.”
[16:14] 1 tn The verb does not have an expressed subject and so is rendered as passive in the translation.
[16:14] 2 sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” The text suggests that God takes up the cause of those who are oppressed.
[16:14] 3 tn Heb “look.” The words “it is located” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[16:15] 1 tn Heb “and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”
[16:16] 1 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is parenthetical to the narrative.
[16:16] 2 tn Heb “the son of eighty-six years.”
[16:16] 3 tn The Hebrew text adds, “for Abram.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is somewhat redundant given the three occurrences of Abram’s name in this and the previous verse.
[21:1] 1 sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the
[21:1] 2 tn Heb “and the
[21:2] 1 tn Or “she conceived.”
[21:3] 1 tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.
[21:4] 1 tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.
[21:4] 2 sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the
[21:5] 1 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).
[21:6] 1 tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”
[21:6] 2 tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[21:6] 3 sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).
[21:7] 2 tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.
[21:8] 2 sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.
[21:9] 2 tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.
[21:10] 1 tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.
[21:11] 1 tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.
[21:12] 1 tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”
[21:12] 2 tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.
[21:12] 3 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.
[21:12] 4 tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.
[21:14] 1 tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”
[21:14] 2 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
[21:14] 3 tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”
[21:14] 4 tn Heb “she went and wandered.”
[21:14] 5 tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.
[21:15] 1 tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.
[21:16] 1 sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).
[21:16] 3 tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.
[21:16] 4 tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.
[21:17] 1 sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the
[21:17] 2 tn Heb “What to you?”
[21:17] 3 sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.
[21:19] 1 tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:21] 1 sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.
[21:21] 2 tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”
[21:22] 1 sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.
[21:23] 1 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
[21:23] 2 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
[21:23] 3 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
[21:23] 4 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
[21:23] 6 tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”
[21:24] 1 tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.
[21:25] 1 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.
[21:25] 2 tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”
[21:25] 3 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.
[21:27] 1 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:29] 1 tn Heb “What are these?”
[21:30] 1 tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”
[21:30] 2 sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.
[21:31] 1 tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”
[21:31] 2 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.
[21:31] 3 sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.
[21:32] 1 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:32] 2 tn Heb “arose and returned.”
[21:32] 3 sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.
[21:33] 1 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:33] 2 sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.
[21:33] 3 tn Heb “he called there in the name of the
[22:1] 1 sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.
[22:1] 2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 2 sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.
[22:2] 3 sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.
[22:2] 4 sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.
[22:2] 5 tn Heb “which I will say to.”
[22:3] 1 tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”
[22:3] 2 tn Heb “he arose and he went.”
[22:4] 1 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”
[22:5] 1 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
[22:5] 2 tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.
[22:5] 3 tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.
[22:5] 4 tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”
[22:5] 5 sn It is impossible to know what Abraham was thinking when he said, “we will…return to you.” When he went he knew (1) that he was to sacrifice Isaac, and (2) that God intended to fulfill his earlier promises through Isaac. How he reconciled those facts is not clear in the text. Heb 11:17-19 suggests that Abraham believed God could restore Isaac to him through resurrection.
[22:6] 1 sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.
[22:7] 1 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[22:7] 2 tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).
[22:7] 3 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood.’” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here and in the following verse the order of the introductory clauses and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:8] 1 tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”
[22:9] 1 sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?
[22:9] 2 sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.
[22:10] 1 tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”
[22:11] 1 sn Heb “the messenger of the
[22:12] 1 tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”
[22:12] 2 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:12] 3 sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).
[22:12] 4 sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.
[22:13] 1 tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”
[22:13] 2 tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.
[22:13] 3 tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew
[22:13] 4 tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:14] 1 tn Heb “the Lord sees” (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, yÿhvah yir’eh, traditionally transliterated “Jehovah Jireh”; see the note on the word “provide” in v. 8). By so naming the place Abraham preserved in the memory of God’s people the amazing event that took place there.
[22:14] 2 sn On the expression to this day see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until this Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.
[22:14] 3 sn The saying connected with these events has some ambiguity, which was probably intended. The Niphal verb could be translated (1) “in the mountain of the Lord it will be seen/provided” or (2) “in the mountain the Lord will appear.” If the temple later stood here (see the note on “Moriah” in Gen 22:2), the latter interpretation might find support, for the people went to the temple to appear before the Lord, who “appeared” to them by providing for them his power and blessings. See S. R. Driver, Genesis, 219.
[22:16] 1 tn Heb “By myself I swear.”
[22:16] 2 tn Heb “the oracle of the
[22:17] 1 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.
[22:17] 2 tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).
[22:17] 3 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
[22:17] 5 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).
[22:18] 1 tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.
[22:18] 2 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 26:4). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
[22:19] 1 tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”
[22:19] 2 tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.
[22:20] 1 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to the statement.
[22:21] 1 sn This parenthetical note about Kemuel’s descendant is probably a later insertion by the author/compiler of Genesis and not part of the original announcement.
[22:23] 1 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).
[11:7] 1 tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the
[11:7] 2 tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”
[42:23] 1 tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story.
[42:23] 2 tn “was listening.” The brothers were not aware that Joseph could understand them as they spoke the preceding words in their native language.
[42:23] 3 tn Heb “for [there was] an interpreter between them.” On the meaning of the word here translated “interpreter” see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ and M. A. Canney, “The Hebrew melis (Prov IX 12; Gen XLII 2-3),” AJSL 40 (1923/24): 135-37.
[28:49] 1 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”
[28:49] 2 tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.
[28:2] 1 tn Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”
[18:1] 1 tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.
[18:1] 2 sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the
[2:4] 1 tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
[2:4] 2 tn The Greek term is γλώσσαις (glwssai"), the same word used for the tongues of fire.
[2:4] 3 tn Grk “just as the spirit gave them to utter.” The verb ἀποφθέγγομαι (apofqengomai) was used of special utterances in Classical Greek (BDAG 125 s.v.).
[2:5] 1 tn Grk “Jews, devout men.” It is possible that only men are in view here in light of OT commands for Jewish men to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at various times during the year (cf. Exod 23:17, 34:23; Deut 16:16). However, other evidence seems to indicate that both men and women might be in view. Luke 2:41-52 shows that whole families would make the temporary trip to Jerusalem. In addition, it is probable that the audience consisted of families who had taken up permanent residence in Jerusalem. The verb κατοικέω (katoikew) normally means “reside” or “dwell,” and archaeological evidence from tombs in Jerusalem does indicate that many families immigrated to Jerusalem permanently (see B. Witherington, Acts, 135); this would naturally include women. Also, the word ἀνήρ (ajnhr), which usually does mean “male” or “man” (as opposed to woman), sometimes is used generically to mean “a person” (BDAG 79 s.v. 2; cf. Matt 12:41). Given this evidence, then, it is conceivable that the audience in view here is not individual male pilgrims but a mixed group of men and women.
[2:5] 2 tn Grk “Now there were residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.”
[2:6] 2 tn Or “was bewildered.”
[2:7] 1 tn Grk “They were astounded and amazed, saying.” The two imperfect verbs, ἐξίσταντο (existanto) and ἐθαύμαζον (eqaumazon), show both the surprise and the confusion on the part of the hearers. The verb ἐξίσταντο (from ἐξίστημι, existhmi) often implies an illogical perception or response (BDAG 350 s.v. ἐξίστημι): “to be so astonished as to almost fail to comprehend what one has experienced” (L&N 25.218).
[2:7] 2 tn Grk “Behold, aren’t all these.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
[2:8] 1 tn Grk “we hear them, each one of us.”
[2:8] 2 tn Grk “in our own language in which we were born.”
[2:9] 1 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
[2:10] 1 tn According to BDAG 595 s.v. Λιβύη, the western part of Libya, Libya Cyrenaica, is referred to here (see also Josephus, Ant. 16.6.1 [16.160] for a similar phrase).
[2:10] 2 map For location see JP4 A1.
[2:11] 1 sn Proselytes refers to Gentile (i.e., non-Jewish) converts to Judaism.
[2:11] 2 tn Or “God’s mighty works.” Here the genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a subjective genitive.
[10:46] 1 tn Or “extolling,” “magnifying.”
[19:6] 2 sn The coming of the Holy Spirit here is another case where the Spirit comes and prophesy results in Acts (see Acts 2). Paul’s action parallels that of Peter (Acts 8) and not just with Gentiles.
[19:6] 3 tn The imperfect verb ἐλάλουν (elaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
[19:6] 4 tn The imperfect verb ἐπροφήτευον (eprofhteuon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
